[News] Coinbase announces asset recovery tool for unsupported erc20 assets sent

[libert19]

https://www.coinbase.com/blog/coinbase-announces-new-asset-recovery-tool-for-erc-20-tokens

I like the initiative, what do you think? Should more exchanges do this?

[Solosanz]

Coinbase seems to be launch a new marketing strategy in order to convince people to use their exchange or wallet, actually they don't need to charge any fee since they already own those address, they just need to send it back. But they just cover the process like it's hard and Coinbase is really generous for doing this. However I wonder why they only want to retrieve ERC20 assets while they can actually retrieve any centralized network like BNB and TRC20. Take note they charge $5 if you recover asset that worth over $100.

Unlike other asset recovery solutions that may charge up to 15% for asset recovery and require a customer service agent to send you the funds manually, we do not charge a recovery fee for recoveries estimated to be worth under $100. For recoveries estimated to be worth over $100, we charge a small recovery fee (5%) to cover development and maintenance costs for the service. (A separate network fee applies to all recoveries. For more information, see our pricing and fees disclosures.)

[hugeblack]

Unfortunately, the news does not give any technical details about what this tool is and how it differs from the traditional methods.

it seems that the process is not done manually as it was in the past, but it is still central in the sense that the tool verifies that the assets are with Coinbase and different assets are sent to your wallet (not the same assets that you deposited.)

Our recovery tool is able to move unsupported assets directly from your inbound address to your self-custodial wallet without exposing private keys at any point. We did this by using patent pending technology to send the funds directly from your inbound address without processing the funds through our centralized exchange infrastructure. 

Is it the one that confused me? They mention that your private key is not disclosed, and yet the money can be sent from your address. without the need for a central structure. HOW  

[rat03gopoh]

Is it the one that confused me? They mention that your private key is not disclosed, and yet the money can be sent from your address. without the need for a central structure. HOW  

I think that means the PrivateKey of your exchange address which is needed to send back unsupported (unsweptable) assets. As far as anyone's experience goes, it seems that even the technical team can't read or extract those PKs manually without dismantling auto-sweeper script that manages all those PKs.

[libert19]

...Take note they charge $5 if you recover asset that worth over $100...

It's 5%.

[TryNinja]

Our recovery tool is able to move unsupported assets directly from your inbound address to your self-custodial wallet without exposing private keys at any point. We did this by using patent pending technology to send the funds directly from your inbound address without processing the funds through our centralized exchange infrastructure.  

Is it the one that confused me? They mention that your private key is not disclosed, and yet the money can be sent from your address. without the need for a central structure. HOW  

There is Coinbase EXCHANGE and there is Coinbase WALLET. The former is centralized and they own the private-keys (obviously), the latter isn't centralized and you own the private keys. With their tool, some unsupported coin you send to the exchange will be forwarded to your custodial wallet, where there is no such thing as unsupported.

I think the point is that the private key of the exchange part isn't disclosed to an employee, so there is no need for manual intervention (which is always a bit risky). They probably have an isolated service running those txs.

[DaveF]

I'm guessing someone sat down and did a bunch of math to figure out how much time and effort employees kept putting into dealing with these issues and came up with a cost benefit analysis having a tool. And then why not monetize it.
Make a bunch of people happy that they get their stuff back and make a few bucks on the side.
Win- Win.

-Dave

[libert19]

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...With their tool, every unsupported coin you send to the exchange will be forwarded to your custodial wallet, where there is no such thing as unsupported...

Not every.

support the recovery of select ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum base layer (e.g., wETH, TUSD, STETH). Not all ERC-20 tokens on Ethereum are eligible for recovery, and the eligibility of any given token is subject to change.